Love in a New York Minute
by marydidlaugh
Summary: Adelee's grandmother and her friend set her up on another blind date. This times different, this guy makes her smile and maybe she can learn to love again. Will Adelee and Rafael fall in love or will her past come back to bite her.
1. Summary

Dr. Adelee Jones is a history and religion professor at NYU. Rafael Barba is an ADA. What do these two have in common? Meddling grandmothers. Adelee is set up by her grandmother, again. However this time seems like a much better fit. Rafael makes her smile and makes her feel like she's 21 again. Adelee is happy teaching and loves her advocacy work that she does in her free time however Adelee has been through a lot in the last five years. For once she thinks that she might be happy with Rafael but what if her past finds her? Will these two learn to love one another or will her past drive her further way?


	2. Chapter 1

"Grandma. Open the door!" I shouted rather loudly at my grandmother's apartment door. I had been trying to get my grandmother to answer the door for the last fifteen minutes.

 _Grandma where are you?_ I thought looking at my watch. _She asked me to be here at 4:30 and its 4:45 now._ I pulled out my phone and pulled up my grandma's number and pressed it. I waited for her to answer it. I heard my grandma's cellphone ring in the apartment. _This is why you have a cell phone grandma. You're supposed to carry it on you, but where are? I am worried about._ I was in the middle of a mental rant when Catalina Diaz opened her door.

"Mrs. Diaz have you seen my grandmother? I was supposed to bring her meet her at 4:30." I said walking over to her. "I am a little worried about her. I called her phone and she hasn't answered."

"Hello Adelee. Martha is in here with me." Mrs. Diaz said as she opened the door wider. When I hobbled closer to the door I could see my grandma sitting on the couch. "Would you like to come in?"

"Yes, please." I told her as she moved further away from the door.

She let me into her apartment and I moved over to my grandma and hugged her as she stood up.

"Grandma why aren't you in your apartment?" I asked her as I set down on Mrs. Diaz's couch. "So what have you been doing here grandma?"

"Bambino I am sitting here with my friend." The say that grandma said this I felt like she was hiding something.

"Grandma what are you not telling me?" I was rather suspicious of my grandma she had this look in her eyes that my mother got when she was up to something.

"Nothing. I am just sitting with my friend in her apartment." Grandma said looking me in the eye.

"I don't trust you two. What are you up too?" I asked them.

"Nothing." Mrs. Diaz says. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No thank you." I told her, grandma looked at me and rolled her eyes. "Addy, your going to be here for a while." I rolled my eyes at her and smiled.

"Ok grandma." I said as I leaned my cane against the couch and leaned back into the couch cushions. "So grandma why are you really here and why did you want me to come over at exactly 4:30?"

"I am visiting my friend and is it a crime to see my granddaughter." Grandma said as she angled her body to face mine.

"Yeah I'm sorry grandma. So how have you been doing?" I asked her.

"I am good bambino! How are you doing? Its starting to get colder is your leg ok?" Grandma asked as she patted my leg. I took a breath and sighed and looked up at the celling. It had been three years and I still had some pain but it was so much worse during the winter.

"I will be fine." I told her.

"Why didn't you stay in Atlanta Adelee? It is warm there and doesn't get as cold as it does here." Grandma asked.

"Because I missed you." I told grandma, I sure as hell was not telling my grandma the real reason that I came to New York. If she knew she would force me on a plane back to Atlanta in a heartbeat. As much as I hated lying I was more scared of my grandmother then anything else. "I have always wanted to come and live in New York grandma."

"I don't believe you but I'll change the subject. Catalina did you know that my bambino got published! She a real scholar know." Grandma said bragging to her friend. I felt my face burn so I know that turned bright red.

"Grandma! It's not that big a deal. It was just a paper on comparative theology." I was so embarrassed. I know grandma is proud but I really wish that she wouldn't brag.

"Oh Adelee that is great!" Mrs. Diaz said as she smiled at me. I loved her she was so sweet to me and my grandma loved her. Those two where as thick as thieves. They checked in on each other and made sure that each other were alright. I am glad that they have each other but when they have something up their sleeves then you better run. I still feel like there is something that there both not telling me.

"So what have you two been up to today?" I asked them.

"You know us we've just been talking in watching TV." Grandma said.

"You mean gossiping right?" I asked smiling at them. They both just smiled at me. I laughed at them.

"You two are worse then a couple of children." I said laughing at them. They were about to say something but there was knocking on the door. Mrs. Diaz was about to get up but I stopped her. "I can get it for you." I said as I pulled myself up I grabbed my cane and walked to the door. There was another knock on the door which was more frantic and I answered the door.


	3. Chapter 2

_"You two are worse then a couple of children." I said laughing at them. They were about to say something but there was knocking on the door. Mrs. Diaz was about to get up but I stopped her. "I can get it for you." I said as I pulled myself up I grabbed my cane and walked to the door. There was another knock on the door which was more frantic and I answered the door._

"Hello." I said to the man who was standing there. He looked a little taken back that I answered the door.

"Um, hello." He said brushing passed me on his way in he knocked into me and I had to steady myself. _Well isn't he charming._

" _Abuela,_ are you ok?" He asked Mrs. Diaz.

"Rafi, I am fine but you are being rude to my guest. You ran right past her. Be nice, Rafi, introduce yourself." She ushered him to me with her hands. "This is my grandson, Rafael Barba he's a DA." She says smiling.

 _"Abuela,_ I am not the DA." He tells her smiling.

"Not yet." She says.

"Hello I am Adelee Jones." I saw walking over to him. I offer him my free hand and he shakes it.

"She's about your age, Rafi." Mrs. Diaz says. I have now figured out what they are up too. This is when the awkward part started to settle in; we both looked at each other and he made this really funny face and I'm pretty sure that I mirrored it on my own face. It was a mix between confusion and 'oh no.' I had no idea what to say and the four of us were in total silence for a good minute until he spoke up.

"Well, she looks a lot better then me if we're the same age." He said. I laughed at him, maybe he's not so bad.

"It's the baby face." I told him smiling.

"Do you know that my _bambino_ has a PhD? She teaches history and religion." My grandma just had to throw that in. My face burned again. "She is also very good with children and do you see those _fianchi_ they're made for making children." _Oh my god. This cannot be happening! Really grandma, really? I have to get out of here. I can't believe that they're doing this._ I thought.

"Um you know I total forgot grandma that I have a...um…meeting at 6. So I'm going to have to leave…um yeah." I told her. I was so embarrassed that my grandmother was trying to set me up on a date with someone who I am pretty sure does not want to be set up either.

"What kind of meeting is at 6, _bambino_?" She asked me with a glint that told me that she knew that I was lying.

"A dinner one?" I was just sounding stupid now, was I asking a question.

"I will see you later _nonna_ , I love you. It was nice to see you Mrs. Diaz and nice to meet you Mr. Barba." I got out of there as fast as I possible could without looking like a frightened deer.

I started to climb down the many flights of stairs that I needed to get down to the first floor. I had only made it down one flight of stairs when someone grabbed my arm. It scared me so I reached up to hit whoever it was in the face but before I could he grabbed my other arm.

"I am sorry I did not mean to scare you." Mr. Barba said.

"Mr. Barba, what can I do for you?" I asked him as he let go of my arm.

"I am sorry about my _abuela."_ He said leaning against the railing.

"Its ok. In case you don't remember my grandma helped too. I just wish she would stop doing that." I said as I leaned against the opposite rail. "Why did you come after me? Wait, did your grandmother tell you too?"

"How did you know?" He asked smiling.

"It was a guess. Those two are like little kids. I think they meant well but I can do fine with out my grandmother setting me up on dates."

"I don't doubt that." He said smiling.

"I doubt you have any trouble either Mr. DA." I said smiling, my face turning a little red.

"I am not _the_ DA I am an ADA." He told me, I think I saw his face turn a little red.

"It was nice to meet you Mr. Barba but I better start making my way down all of these stairs." I turned to continue down when he stopped me again.

"You can call me Rafael." I turned around and smiled at him.

"You can call me Adelee."

"Adelee, can I walk with you out?" He asked. I nodded

"If you think you can keep up." I said smiling. We made it down a couple of steps before he decided to ask me a question.

"So Adelee. Your grandmother said that you are a teacher."

"Yeah. I'm a college professor at NYU." I told him. "So you're an ADA? What do you do with that?" I asked.

"I work with the Special Victims Unit. SVU works with rape and abuse victims mostly." He told me.

"So you prosecute the abusers? I beat that's hard, so you have to know everything that happened to them?" I asked. That sounds like a difficult job to have.

"It's hard but I know that I can do it and I feel like it is something that I am meant to do." He said.

"I can understand that. I have worked with SVU before." I said as we continued moving down the steps. "I volunteer at a church that has several group sessions with abuse survivors. One of them confided in me and I was her voice for the trial."

"Oh wow. So you teach at NYU and you work with abuse survivors, do you have free time?" He asked me.

"Yeah." I said smiling.

"Well, with this free time would you like to get dinner with me?" He asked. I laughed, hard.

"I am sorry but that was smooth, Rafael. You've made me laugh more in under an hour then I have all week. So yes I would love to get dinner with you." I said smiling. We stopped because we had managed to reach the front door.

"Do you want to go to dinner now? I know this great little place." He said. I smiled.

"I would love to go to dinner now, but you might want your jacket." I told him.

"Right. I'll go get it." He said smiling and with that he turned around to go back up all of the stairs that we had just come down.

I smiled to myself. I looked down at my right leg. _Maybe this will be different._

 **Thank you all so much for reading this new story. I hope that you all like it. Thank you for all of the reviews and favorites and follows. I really appreciate it. Thank you all for reading I hope that you all enjoyed it.**

 **-Marydidlaugh**


	4. Chapter 3

"So where are we going?" I asked once we were on the street. I was curious of where we where headed.

"A restaurant that is not to far away." He told me smiling.

"Your not going to murder me in a dark ally way are you?" I asked him.

"It's five o'clock. It's not dark yet." He told me.

"You didn't answer my question." I stopped walking. He stopped after he got a little ahead of me. He turned around and smiled.

"No I am not going to murder you."

"Good. Cause that would be an awful first date." I smiled back.

"So this is a date?" He asked. All of a sudden I was unsure of if he might like me. The color drained from my face and my stomach felt heavy.

"It...doesn't have to be…I just thought that…" He cut me off.

"I am sorry I want this to be a date. I haven't been on one in a while. So bare with me." He said smiling at me. It was a cute smile.

"Ok. I haven't been on a date in a while either." I told him. I smiled and walked to where he had stopped. "So Mr. ADA where exactly are we going?"

"There's this restaurant that is in this neighborhood and it was one of the best places to get food when I was growing up."

"Ok lead the way." I told him.

"Did you spend a lot of time in this neighborhood growing up?" He asked me.

"I didn't spend that much time here when I was a child. I would have loved to, but my father is originally from Atlanta so when my parents got married they started their life down there. I spent some summers up here with my grandma, but my mother didn't want me to spend to much time with her." I told him. I didn't mean to tell him that much about myself, it just sort of came out. "Did you have fun here as a child?" I asked him as a way to change the subject.

"I had fun growing up with my friends, in fact I had two best friends. We got in so much trouble. My friends Alex, Eddie and I were called the Three Musketeers of Jerome Avenue; I had the mouth, Alex had the heart, and Eddie had the muscle to protect us." He said smiling and laughing.

"Do you keep in touch?" I asked him.

"Less and less." He said with a frown replacing his cute smile.

"Oh well, I bet you have all kinds of stories of the trouble that you got into as a child." I told him smiling. There was something about him that made it easy to talk to; he was easy to laugh with.

"I have quite a lot of stories about that time." He said smiling.

We stopped when we reached a restaurant with the name of _La Perla_ on the door. He opened the door for me to walk in and I went in first. I waited for him to walk in and I followed him to a counter. I looked up at the menu and noticed that everything was in Spanish.

"Um…Problem." I told him. He looked at me. "I know five words of Spanish."

"Oh I am sorry I didn't think of that. We can go somewhere else, if you want?"

"No, we can stay here. I would like to eat here." I told him. This was some place that was special to him and he wanted to share it. "I'm going to have to trust you though. What's the best thing on the menu?" I asked him.

He smiled at me, "I think I can do that." He then ordered our food.

A little while later we had our food and after I took the first bite I found out that it was amazing. "This is amazing!" I told him smiling. He smiled back at me.

"So tell me a little bit about yourself." He said smiling.

Thank you all so much for reading, following, and favoriting this story. It really means a lot to me that you all seem to enjoy it. I hope that you all have enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading this.

MS


	5. Chapter 4

"Well, I'm a Capricorn." I joked.

"Maybe a little bit more." He smiled at me.

"Ok. Well, I am originally from Atlanta and I am only child. I love to travel and I have no pets." I told him.

"Where have you traveled?"

"I have been to Greece, Canada, Italy, England, and the Czech Republic."

"Do you go on vacation to these places?" He asked me.

"Not really. I studied abroad in Greece for a year and I spent a semester in Canada, and then I went to Italy and the Czech Republic for work." I told him.

"What exactly do you do?" He asked me.

"Um. I have a PhD in religion, and my specialty is mythology." I told him.

"Oh ok. So you teach at NYU?"

"Yes, I love my job, but I hate grading papers." I laughed. "So have you been anywhere?" I asked him.

"I have been a couple of places. I have been to the Caribbean, Canada, Switzerland, St. Bart's, and Cuba." He told me.

"That sounds like fun. I have never been to most of those places. Did you vacation there? Where was your favorite place to go?" I asked.

"Yes," he laughed, "I went to Cuba to see where mother and grandmother came from. I went this year, it was wonderful." He told me. I noticed that he did not mention his father.

"Tell me about yourself." I said smiling. He took a drink of his coffee and swallowed it, and started to speak.

"I am an only child, too. My parents moved here from Cuba, and I was born here in New York." He told me.

"That's really cool. I knew that your grandmother was born in Cuba, but I didn't know that your parents were." I told him. "So where did you go to college?"

"Harvard. Where did you go?" He told me.

"I went to the University of Georgia and then I went to Yale Divinity School for graduate and doctoral studies." I told him smiling.

"Oh. I don't know if this will work out. You went to Yale and I went to Harvard." He said smiling.

"I know. I can't believe I thought a Harvard graduate was cute." I said smiling. "Well. I guess we'll have to over look all of that, and see if we can get along." I said laughing.

"All right. What's your favorite movie?" He asked me.

" _Breakfast At Tiffany's,_ it's cliché, but it is my favorite movie. What is your favorite movie?"

" _Raiders of the Lost Ark."_

"Is that an Indiana Jones movie?" I asked.

"Yes. It is my favorite movie, my roommate and I used to watch it during finals every year." He told me.

"I haven't seen it before." I told him.

"Maybe I can show it to you sometime." He said smiling.

"I would love that." I said blushing. This is when his phone decided to ring.

"I have to answer this. It is for work." He told me. "Hello…I'll be there in thirty minutes." He told whoever was on the end of the phone line.

"I am so sorry, but I have to go to work." He told me.

"That's ok. I understand that you have to work." I told him.

"Are you sure?" He asked me.

"Its completely fine."

"Do you want to go on another date, with me?" He asked.

"I would love that." I said smiling. "Let me see your phone."

He handed his phone over the table to me, and I put my number in it and sent a text message to my number. "Just call me when ever you want."

"Ok. I'll call you and let you know when I am free." He told.

"I would love that." I said grabbing my coat and putting it on. I was in the process of standing up, and leaning against my cane when Rafael came up to me. He reached for my scarf and wrapped it around my neck. I blushed and said "thank you."

 **Thank you all so much for reading! I am sorry that it has been so long since I have updated this story but I had finals. So thank you for reading.**

 **-MS**


	6. Chapter 5

I was running late today. This is one of the days that makes me hate this damn leg and David more then I normally do. When it is cold outside it makes it harder for me to get around, and it makes my leg ache a lot more. I live within a five-minute walk of my lecture hall. I quickly buttoned up my red peacoat I then grabbed my cane and messenger bag. As I walked as quickly as I could down the one flight of stairs in my apartment building I checked my phone to see if Rafael had sent me a text message or had called me, but he had not. I huffed out air and took a deep breath to calm myself down. As I was shutting the main door to my apartment building my brown skirt got caught in the door. I turned around and tried to open the door but the damn thing had locked behind me.

"Are you kidding me?" I said aloud. I had to take a deep breath to keep from screaming. I pulled my keys out of my messenger bag and unlocked the door to pull my skirt out. I had to hurry up if I wanted to be there in time for class. On the walk to my class I couldn't help but let my thoughts wonder to Rafael. Its been two days since I saw him and I was hoping that maybe he liked me the same amount that I liked him.

I hadn't felt this way since I met David and I haven't wanted to feel this way since him. It took me a very long time to get over him. It took me almost ten years to get over him and everything that he did. I was really hoping that Rafael would contact me because he was the first person who made me feel comfortable in my skin. He didn't stare at my leg and give me looks of pity or disgust. Most men don't want a 32-year-old woman who has a cane.

"Dr. Jones!" I turn around quickly to see one of my students for the class that I was going to be late too.

"Yes, Mr. Reed?" I said as I stopped for the student to talk to me. I was glad that he had stopped me because I needed a distraction from my current thoughts.

"I was wondering if you had time after class to talk about some of the myths that we read for class today?" He asked me.

"Sure Mr. Reed I have some time right after class if you are alright with that?" I asked him.

"Yes that would work perfect, thank you Dr. Jones." He said.

"Your welcome, meet me at my office door after class." I told him.

He held the door open to the academic building that my classes and office was located in. "Thank you, Mr. Reed." I said as I walked in. I headed to my class with Mr. Reed walking behind me.

"Good morning everyone." I told the class as I set down my messenger bag and unbuttoned my coat and took it off and draped it across the chair. I walked to the lecture podium.

"Alright class, last class I asked you all to read chapters 10 and 11 in the textbook. I want you all to tell me what some of your favorite myths are." I told my class as I walked up to the blackboard. I picked up a piece of chalk ready to write their answers down. There was no one who spoke up for a minute.

"Come on guys, please tell me that you read." I waited, and nothing happened again. "Ok. Do you have a favorite god that was in a story?" I asked them. "My favorite is Athena."

"Hades." Someone who I believe to be Mr. Reed yells.

"Alright." I said as I wrote that down.

"My favorite myth is about the creation the world in Norse Mythology." A student said. I wrote 'creation of earth/midgard-Norse' on the board.

"Ms. Johnston why is that your favorite?" I asked her as I turned around.

"I think, that it is a good example of the culture of the Vikings." She said.

"Good. That is a good observation." I told her, "who else has a favorite myth?" I asked the class. More students started to answer the question that I had asked them.

"Alright class," I said as I set the chalk down and walked to the desk and set down on it. "Why do we need myths? What makes them important?" I asked the class.

"Well, I think that myths are important because they show us their culture." Said Mr. Martin.

"Good, Mr. Martian." I said. "Myth is the history of culture, it lets us see what society was like in the time that these myths were recorded or told." I told the class.

"I think that it is important for us to remember that myths are more then bed time stories. They are something that shows what ancient societies believed in and what they valued. For example when we look at Greek mythology what can we see what the society was like? I want you all to write a 1200 word paper on the importance of myths in helping us understand the society that the myth was from. I will email you the prompt for the paper, which will be do one week from today, don't groan it was in the syllabus. Alright guys I will see you all Wednesday." I told them. I stayed sitting on the desk until the last student left. I remembered that I was going to meet Jackson Reed at my office to talk. _This is going to be a long day._ I thought to myself.

I was sitting on my couch in my apartment in my favorite Yale hoodie and a cup of tea when my phone started playing _Radioactive._ I picked it up and saw that it was Rafael. I couldn't wipe the smile from my face or get rid of the lump in my throat.

"Hello?" I said answering the phone.

"Adelee?" He asked on the phone.

"Yes?"

"Hi it's Rafael." He said, he sounded a little nervous.

"Hi, it's good to hear from you. How have you been?" I asked smiling.

"I've been very busy with a case and I want to apologize now for not calling you earlier." He said.

"That's fine I understand that you have an important job." I told him. I was honestly really glad that this was the reason that he had not gotten back to me.

"Good, um not to sound forward, but are you home?" He asked me.

"Yes." I told him unsure of where this was going.

"To make up for not calling you I have dinner with me that I would love to share with you, if that is alright?" He said unsure, I think that this is the least confidant I have ever heard from him.

"Ok great, I'll be there in fifteen minutes?" He asked.

"Ok great, I'll see you soon." I told him. I hung up the phone and took a drink of my tea. I smiled into my cup and giggled. _I don't have pants on or a bra. Shit!_ I thought as I set my tea down. _I gotta get pants!_ I thought. I jumped up the best I could, and walked to my room to find pants and a bra.

Five minutes later I managed to find leggings, a bra, and I put on a pair of nude flats. I stopped to look in the mirror in the bathroom. "My hair looks like Hagrid's," so I hurried up and put my hair into a braid. It looked better then before, but there was still a lot of tiny baby hairs that were sticking up. "Stupid curly hair."

I walked out of the bathroom through my room to get to the living room. I walked around to make sure that there wasn't anything embarrassing. I am glad that I did check because I found my bra from earlier, my tights from today, and a shirt that I thought that I had lost. I was in the process of throwing them in my hamper when I heard a knock on the door. I went to go answer the door.

"Hello Rafael. It's nice to see you." I said as I opened the door. He was standing there in a brown coat with a gray suit and a light blue shirt on with a navy and pink tie. He looked handsome and it made me feel very underdressed. "I like your tie." I told him

"Hello Adelee. Thank you. I like the sweatshirt." He said smiling. "I brought food."

"Come in." I told him. He walked in and I led him into my living room.

"Wow, it's very white." He said.

"I know. I wanted to paint the walls but I am not allowed to." I told him smiling.

"I like it though, its very bright." He said.

"So what did you bring?" I asked him pointing to the bag.

"I brought Chinese. I brought you Ginger Chicken with Broccoli." He said holding up the brown paper bag.

"That's my favorite." I told him.

"I know," I think that he realized that that sounded creepy so he back tracked. "Your grandmother told me. I swear I am not stalking you."

"Oh thank God. I thought I was going to have to try and beat you to my taser." I said smiling.

"You have a taser? Remind me not to make you mad." He said smiling.

"So you talked to my grandmother?" I asked him I as I walked over to the couch. "Come join me on the couch."

He took of his jacket and laid it on the chair and he walked over to the couch. He set the food on the coffee table and set next to me. "Yes, I went to see mine and yours was there."

"There always together Rafael." I said smiling and laughing.

"I know I think that there are attached. I went over and your grandmother asked me how our date went." He said. I leaned back on the arm of the couch and put my hands over my face.

"Oh no." I groaned. "She didn't force you to call me did she?" I asked him.

"No, I wanted to see you again I promise. She just gave me some advice on how to 'win you over'." He said.

"Oh Lord." I groaned.

"Its ok I think its sweet, I believe my _abuela_ will be doing the same thing to you." He said to me. I laughed and set up.

"Food?" I asked to help change the subject. He pulled out the containers of food and the chopsticks. "I'll get drinks." I told him, "what do you want?"

"Let me get it." He said to me. "Where's the kitchen?"

"Through the dinning room." I said.

"What would you like to have?"

"Water." I told him and a couple of minutes later he came back with waters.

"I didn't just bring food." He said, he opened his briefcase and pulled out two DVDs. "I brought movies. I brought _Breakfast At Tiffany's_ and _Raiders of the Lost Ark._ I thought that we could watch them together, so we could see each others favorite movie." He told me. That was so sweet.

"Yeah I think that's great." I told him smiling.

* * *

 _ **Hi guys! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. It took me all weekend to write this. This was a longer chapter because I am not sure when I will be able to update since I am back in classes again. I hope your holidays were great. I want to thank you all for reading this chapter and this story, it means a lot to me that you all are reading this. If you all interested in seeing what outfits Adelee wears in the story I have on my profile page some URLs for you all to follow so you can see the outfits and things like that.**_

 _ **For all of you in school, I hope you have a great semester!**_

 ** _MS_**


	7. Chapter 6

"I like him, a professor with a whip. I bet his students don't fall asleep in his classes. I can see why you like Indian Jones. He wears tweed suites like you." I told him jokingly.

"What? I like him for more then that. I bet your students do not fall asleep." He told me smiling. In the process of the movie we both had gotten rather close to one another. I was leaning against him, and he had his arm wrapped around my shoulders.

"No they do. I teach them myths, Rafael. Those are stories, and they tend to put people to sleep." I told him smiling.

"Really? Surely not everyone has fallen asleep in your class." He told me.

"Do you want to hear a story about that?" I told him, he nodded. "Well I teach this introduction course of Greek myths, and it is apart of a list of classes that can fill a requirement that everyone needs to graduate. So I have quite a few people who have no interest in the subject taking it, and they think that it is going to be easy. So one day in class, it was the day after Halloween and I have a strict attendance policy for that class because I know that if I don't that no one will every show up. There were many people there and every single one of them fell asleep in the middle of my lecture about the Trojan War. The worst part is that I was so into the story that I didn't notice that everyone had fallen asleep, and when I finally noticed I was so mad that I picked up all of my things, and left them a note on the board and promptly walked at the door." I said.

"What did you write on the board?" He asked me smiling.

"I told them that since they had gotten their sleep in class then they didn't need it for that night. So I told them that at 8 am they would be turning into me a hand written paper that would be ten pages long on the Trojan War, and if it was one minute late, wasn't their hand writing, or if it wasn't handed in then they failed the entire course. I know I was a little cruel, but I was pissed. The students started talking about what I did and now no one will take my classes if they know that they will not fall asleep." I told him smiling. "I think I was to effective in scaring them."

"Remind me not to make you angry." He said smiling.

"So back to Indian Jones. Why do you like him?" I asked him.

"I loved that he saved the day, and saved the girl." He told me smiling. "When I was a kid I would pretend to be Indiana Jones." His face flushed when he told me this.

"Well I think that is adorable." I told him.

"I can see why you like _Breakfast at Tiffany's._ I think that the movie is romantic." He said to me with his face-flushed pink.

"I think that older movies are more romantic, and a little less cheesy then modern ones." I told him. "Let's change the subject, how was work, did you have a court case?" I could tell that he was embarrassed, and ever the Southern Belle that I am I wanted to make him not feel so awkward.

"No I didn't have a court case today. I just talked to some witnesses and the detectives on the case." He told me.

"So you look this snazzy all the time." I joked. _I swear sarcasm and humor is a southern form of defense for awkward situations. Or maybe that's just me._

"You know, I have to look good for the detectives, and wearing a suit tends to do that." He joked back with a smile. _Thank God, that could have been extremely awkward._

"Well, you have to show them who is in charge." I joked. _Is this how normal people flirt, I think I have forgotten, it has been a while since I have felt confortable to do this with someone. Addy get a grip, just because this is the first real attempt at starting a relationship or something doesn't mean you should act weird. I don't know, why am I thinking of this as a relationship when I don't even know if he wants anything like that with me. He is really cute though and he makes me laugh. He dresses like someone who knows what he wants and will go for it. I am not ashamed to admit this, I think that he is fucking sexy in those suits and ties. All I can sometimes think about is him, and those suits and ties and taking them off of him. I honestly really like him and I have not known him that long, but he has pretty eyes. I can't do this. I have to think like an adult, and I can do that I am not 18 anymore with my first_ _ **real**_ _boyfriend. I think he just said something._ I felt my eyes get large and my ears burned.

"I am sorry can you say that again, I was a million miles away." I told him.

"That's alright," he said smiling, "I said, I spend enough on these ties that I have to show them off to someone." _I know what he could do with those ties. I really need to stop that. Focus._

"Well, everyone likes a sharp dressed man." I said smiling at him. We both looked at each other and smiled.

"It is getting late, Addy. I _do_ have court tomorrow morning and I _have_ to color coordinate my outfits with my tie." He told me smiling.

"Well, make sure that your socks match too." I laughed and so did he. He got up and so did I. However, I had to stand for a moment for my leg to get steady. He grabbed my hand to help steady me. "Thank you."

I grabbed my cane that was next to the couch, and I walked toward the front door with him behind me. I couldn't help but think that he was trying to stand behind me to catch me if my leg went out. I couldn't help but become slightly angry by this.

"Rafael?" I asked.

"Yes?"

"I don't mean to sound rude, but please don't stand behind me." I told him.

"I am sorry. I was trying to…" He trailed off.

"No its fine," now I felt bad that I brought it up. "Its just that… I am sorry, I don't mean to sound angry about it. I just…" I took a deep breath, _I don't want to sound like a bitch, but I am tired of everyone thinking I am_ _ **helpless**_ _or that I need their help. He's trying to be helpful, I need to keep that in mind._ "I don't like people trying to constantly help me. I don't need the help." I told him.

"I am sorry. I was not trying to make you feel like your helpless. I swear that was not my intention." He told me. Well now I felt really bad.

"I am sorry Rafael. I don't mean to sound bitchy, but I just felt like for a long time that I was helpless, and I am not now and its weird when people try to help me." I told him.

"It is ok. I understand that and I am sorry if I offended you. That was not my intention." He told me. I gave him a smile; I needed to change the subject.

"Thank you for coming. I had a lot of fun tonight." I told him smiling. I reached the door and was about to open it when he spoke.

"This is the most fun that I have had in a while." _It seems like I didn't hurt his feelings with what I said, good I really like him._

"I'm glad." I told him.

"Would you like to get dinner tomorrow night?" He asked me.

"I would love too." I told him smiling. I opened the door for him to leave and he walked toward me. He wasn't more then a step away from me. He then leaned forward and kissed me.

* * *

 **I am soooo sorry. It has been a very long time since I updated. I have been very busy and I also lost motivation for this story. But I found motivation for it and I plan on updating more often. Thank you all for reading.**

 **-MS**


	8. Chapter 7

It had been two weeks since I started seeing Rafael and I am still just as giggly. I had a smile so big on my face that hadn't come off since we started dating. We have seen each other every single day. He would come over to my apartment or I would go over to his or we would go on dates. I haven't been this happy in a very long time. Last night we went to a play and then dinner. I was slightly dazed as I was sitting at my desk in my office. I heard a knock on my door that drew me out of my dazed state. "Come in!" I called.

"Hello, Dr. Jones?" Two people walked into my office one was a brunette female close to my height and an African American man.

"Hello my name is Sergeant Olivia Benson and this is Detective Tutuola. We are with the NYPD Special Victims Unit. We were wanting to know if we could talk to you?" Sergeant Benson said.

"Of course. Come in." They were lingering at the door. I looked down at my watch and noticed I had twenty minutes before my next class started. I stood up grabbing my cane. I waved my hand to the chairs in front of my desk. "Please have a seat. Will this take long? I am not in any sort of trouble am I?" I asked them.

"No, ma'am. You're not in any trouble we need your help with a case. It shouldn't take long." The detective said.

"Detective you don't have to call me ma'am you can call me Adelee." I told him. I went to grab my messenger bag off of the coat rack. I walked back with it to my desk.

"So what can I help y'all with?" I asked them. I turned to grab the textbooks for my Ancient Greece History course off of the bookshelf behind my desk. I was putting them in my bag when Sargent Benson started talking.

"I was told you were very well versed in myths."

"Yes, I have a PhD in Classics." I told them as I sat down at my desk.

"Would you care to look at some photos of a crime scene?" She asked me.

"Of course. I am not sure how much I could help you with this." I told them honestly.

"We think that this case resembles a myth and we want to know what you think." She placed a series of photos on my desk. I looked at them and saw something that looked familiar. _There are three pomegranate seeds._ I felt a chill go up my spine. _This can't be connected. I have to ask._ "Are there any other victims that were taken like this?" I asked them.

"No this is the first one." Detective Tutuola told me.

"Can I ask you a strange question?" I asked them. _Damn._ I had a feeling.

"Of course." Sargent Benson said.

"Have their been any weird or strange abductions lately, they don't even have to be women?" I asked them. They both looked at me weird. "Any weird deaths?"

"Why are you asking us this?" Sargent Benson asked me. I took a deep breath and let it out.

"Look, I got some really weird mail the last couple of months. In the mail I get these myths sent to me. Last week I got this," I pulled open my desk drawer and pulled it out and handed it to them. They both looked at it. "I didn't say anything about them because I am a professor and sometimes my students send me weird things when I am a little tough on them. I mean I teach all kinds of myths to students, and I have had my fair share of weird ass students who ask me weird questions and show me weird things. I just became immune to it. I took the other three to the police department, but they told me that its nothing and to just ignore it. I haven't taken this one because I haven't had the time." What I handed them was a letter that had glued to it a page from a myth book about the "Rape of Persephone," the page was ripped from an old book, like one of the ones that I love that has yellowed pages and the scent of old pages. At the top of the book's page was an old style drawing of what was supposed to be Hades holding Persephone. However, at the bottom on the letter was magazine clippings spelling out, **FOUR DOWN. I WANT TO PLEASE YOU.**

"I can only think of one of the top of my head, because I thought it was rather strange." Sargent Benson said. "It wasn't even one of ours but everyone thought that it was strange. A man was raped and murdered and his body was tied to a rock in his apartment and his liver was missing."

"Prometheus." I said as I felt my face pale.

"What?" Detective Tutuola said.

"One of the myths that I was sent was the myth of Prometheus. He gave mortals fire and his eternal punishment was that he would be tied to a boulder and his liver would be picked out everyday for it to grow back every night. Just for it to happen all over again the next morning. The very first letter I received had this myth. I…God, I think I am gonna be sick." I said. I bent over and put my head in between my legs and started taking deep breaths. _Oh my God. What the hell happened? Why is this happening? I've never hurt anyone before, unless you count being to hard on my students, but I have never done anything that should have caused this._

"This isn't your fault, but I think you need to come down to the station with us. To see if you might know who is doing this." Sargent Benson said.

"Ok, I need to cancel my classes today. I need to email them." I told them. I opened up my email account and wrote everyone a note. I closed my laptop and took all the books out of my bag and replaced them with the laptop. "Ok I am ready to go, but I need to stop at a classroom and let them know that I am not teaching them their class."

 **I hope you all enjoyed this. I am sorry this took a little bit longer then I hoped, but the story is picking up know and I am happy with where it is going. I hope that you all loved it. I am excited for the next two to three chapters because we get into some plot.**

 **Thank so much!**

 **MS**


	9. Chapter 8

_**Hello you all! I am putting the author's note at the beginning because this chapter might be a little graphic in the scenes that I have written. It is not the sexual kind of graphic. I don't think that it is bad, but I just want to warn you that this chapter talks about death and talks about the manner in which the bodies are staged. If this bothers you then there is one part that is more graphic then the others which I have one of the characters warn that it is graphic. I did not think that it is too bad, but I wanted to let you all know before you got there. If it does bother you I bolded each of the words in the paragraph that have the scenes described so you can skip those scenes. I am also going to bump up the rating because we are getting into the plot know, and there will be more mentions of rapes, murders, and other things. So I am going a head and bumping up the rating now.**_

 _ **In other news, I want to thank you all for reading this. I am sorry this is posted later then I planned on. I was working a summer camp and we had no Wifi and I was dead at the beginning of the week when I got home. I hope you all enjoy this!**_

 _ **MS**_

* * *

When we got to the prescient I was taken into a conference room, and Sargent Benson was sitting in front of me at the table.

"Adelee, do you know anyone who would want to do something like this to you?" She asked me. I took a deep breath.

"The only person that I can think of is my ex-boyfriend from college. He did this," I said gesturing to my leg. "He's in jail currently and I would have been notified if he was released. He also isn't the type to play with his food, he would just attack, and he's also not smart enough for that, he hated my interest in mythology." I told her.

"I honestly don't think that he is doing this."

"Ok, is there anyone else?" She asked me.

"No. There is no one who comes to mind." I told her.

"Ok. Can you tell me the method that the letters have come to you in?"

"They are mailed to my office at the university, and the addresses are on labels that are typed up on a computer. There was no return address on any of them." I said looking down at my skirt, picking invisible lent off of my tights.

"Ok. Until we find out who is doing this I think that it might be best if you stay at a friend's or relatives house. Do you have anyone to stay with?" Sargent Benson asked me.

"I can stay with my grandmother." I told her. "I don't have to miss work do I?" I don't want to miss any of my classes.

"As long as you're not alone with anyone you don't know or fully trust." She told me.

"Ok." I told her and as soon as I had said that there was a knock was on the door. Some one poked their head in.

"Sarge, I got those case files you wanted." A young man with slicked back brown hair said.

"Adelee, this is Detective Carisi. Carisi, this is Dr. Adelee Jones." Sargent Benson introduced us to one another.

"Nice to meet you Detective." I waved and smiled a little.

"Pleasure to meet you." The Detective said. He laid the files down on the table. "Will that be all Sarge?" He asked.

"No that's all. Thank you Carisi." Sargent Benson said. He left the room and again we were alone. "I have some other cases from Homicide and from other detectives who have had strange cases." She started to open the files. "I have to warn you they are violent."

 **" _The_** first one that we have is this one. Could you look at it and see if you see anything?" She asked me. She laid out some of the pictures in front of me. I looked at them, and this one had a girl with an arrow sticking out of her chest and leaves set in her hair. She was clean, if she were pierced in the heart I would assume that there would be blood everywhere, but there was none. Her hair was brushed back, and the leaves where rapped around her head and threaded through her hair. She was laid out underneath a tree naked. "She was found under a tree in her own backyard."

"Apollo and Dahpne. Are those laurel leaves?"

"Yes." She said.

"The myth of Apollo and Daphne is that Eros or Cupid, was so angry at a comment that Apollo made that he stuck Apollo with a golden tipped arrow and her with a lead tipped arrow. Her arrow made her want nothing to do with Apollo where's his made him fall in love with her. She begged her father to save her from being raped by Apollo or losing her virginity, it depends on which interpretations you look at, and her father was the god of the river. So, he turned her into a laurel tree. She was a nymph, and that might be why she is naked. Wait," I looked closer at the girl in the picture. "I know her." I told the Sargent.

"She was a nice girl, and I really liked her. Her name was Sabrina Martian. When I knew her she was about to start her first year of college at Columbia, she wanted to study law." I had tears in my eyes.

"Were you friends with her?" She asked me.

"Sort of. I work at a couple of churches that have groups of survivors of sexual abuse and she was one of the girls from a group at my former church." I told her.

"Ok. Do you know anything about her abuse? Why did you leave the church?" She asked me.

"It was someone that she went to high school with. He attacked her in her freshmen year of high school. I finally got into faculty housing; I went from being a part-time professor to full time and I was able to move closer to campus. The church was on the other side of the city, and I just found it easier to leave." I couldn't breathe. This was unbelievable.

"What was his name? Do you know if he was prosecuted? What was the church's name?" She asked me.

"I don't know anything more then when it happened. The name of the church is St. Paul's Episcopal Church." I told her. She wrote all of this down. She pulled another photo out of a file.

"Do you know him?" She asked. I looked at the photo of the blond man. I knew him, he was in a class I taught.

"Yes. He was a former student." I told her. "He was in my Ancient Religion class. I remember him because he showed up to my office, and became hostel."

"How was he hostel? What happened?"

"He failed a test. He became angry in class after I handed back the test at the beginning of class. He came to my office later that day, and he was very angry."

"Who would have heard this argument?" She asked me.

"Anyone in that class, any of the professors next to my office, and anyone who walked by my office." I told her.

"Do you know this girl?" she pulled out a photo of a tan woman who had hazel eyes, covered in moles, and had long curly black hair. I didn't know her, but she looked a whole lot like a younger version of me.

"No." I told her.

"She's the missing victim from the case that you said was about the myth of the 'Rape of Persephone.'" She told me.

" _ **I need**_ you to look at one last case." She told me. She pulled out some photos from another case. "I have to warn you, this one is graphic." I could feel my stomach drop. I looked down at the photos in front of me. There was a blonde woman who was posed. She was in a sort of backbend with her head twisted all the way around to were her face was looking at the camera while the front of her body was facing up. There was something that was sown or stuck into her mouth that looked like pinchers. There was something that was impaled through her body that made her look like she had four other limbs besides her two arms and her two legs. It was black and shiny, and it was impaled into the ground after it went through her body to get her bent in that position. She was clothed in some kind of skintight black suit. I couldn't keep the bile from rising in my throat I tried to make a mad dash for the trashcan behind the Sargent. I landed on the floor because my leg gave out half way there. I landed on my good knee and crawled the extra foot that there was to the trashcan. When I made it there I threw up my lunch. When I was finished I started crying. I couldn't handle it any more. The Sargent came up behind me, and was rubbing my back as I cried.

"I know her." I kept muttering that over and over again for a while. When I had calmed down a little she offered to help me up and I nodded. She pulled me up and led me to the chair that I was siting in earlier.

"I will be right back." Sargent Benson said. She then left the room. She came back in a couple of minutes later with a glass of water.

"I hate to ask this, but how do you know her?" She asked me.

"She was a friend who was in the same doctorate program that I was in. She ended up stealing my research for my doctorate's thesis. She won an award for my research and I had no way of proofing it. Her name was Jessica Langley. I haven't spoken to her since then." I told the Sargent. "Who every did this compared me to Athena and her to Arachne. Arachne challenged Athena to a weaving contest because she thought that she was the best and could beat Athena who is the goddess of skill. Athena disguised herself as an old woman who appeared to her, and told her to take back her words and ask for forgiveness against the goddess. However, Arachne said that Athena should appear to her so she could compete with her. The old women turned into Athena and they competed against one another. Athena became angry when she saw the work that Arachne did which showed disrespect to the gods. So Athena told her that if she loved her work so much that she could spin forever, and that is when Athena turned her into a spider." I had tears rolling down my face and I had to stop every once and a while because of my sobs.

"I know this is hard and we're almost done. Who would have known about her stealing your research?" She asked.

"My students, my colleagues, my family, and anyone who probably Google searched me. It was covered by the schools news paper at the time, and those are all digitized now." I told her. She was writing down more things now. There was a long period of silence during this. That is when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." She said.

"Sarge, Barba's here to talk to you." Detective Carisi said. _Is that my Barba? He is an ADA for SVU. More then likely that's him. I don't want him to see me like this. God I have so much baggage that its ridicules. Someone is fucking killing everyone that I knew or who wronged me._ I rubbed at my eyes and reached down for my messenger bag and pulled out a tissue. I looked down to rub my eyes with it when I caught sight of the photos again, and it made me feel nauseous again. I placed a hand on my stomach in hopes that that would keep it down.

"Ok thank you Carisi," she said looking at him. She then turned to me and said, "I believe that's all that I need from you know, but I need you to be careful. You need to stay at someone else's home, and you need to not be alone anywhere. It will only be for a while. I have one last question for you, have you personally received any threats?" She asked.

"No." I told her.

"Ok. Let me walk you out." She said. I got up out of the chair and grabbed my messenger bag and cane. She let me start walking in front of her, I had to stand there and wait for my leg to get steady before I could move it. Once we were out of the office I saw that the Barba that they were talking about was defiantly my Baba, and the look that he gave me when he saw me walk out of the conference room with tear stains on my face was unforgettable.


	10. Chapter 9

_**Hey y'all! I am sorry for not posting for a while, but I got a good reason. I was sick and then I started college and its my last year so I have been busy with seeing my friends again and doing senior stuff. I am going to try and upload more often but unfortunately I don't know if I can keep that, but I can promise that I will at least update once a month at the longest. It is my personal goal to finish this story before I graduate. I hope you all enjoy this and thanks for reading it and reviewing and for favoriting it and following it. I hope you all enjoy it!**_

* * *

 _"_ Adelee. _Corazon,_ are you all right? _"_ He ran up to me.

"I am fine, _Caro."_ I told him. There most have been something on my face that said otherwise because he walked up to me. We're standing nose to nose and he then wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I leaned my head down to land on his shoulder. He rubs my back soothingly.

"Adelee, what's wrong, why are you here?" He asked me. I looked up and backed away from him.

"Um." I didn't know where to start. "Nothing happened to me." I told him. That was the most basic thing I could say.

"Barba, maybe you should all come into my office?" Sargent Benson said.

"Ok." He said. We all made our way into her office. We all took seats and Sargent Benson was the first one to talk.

"Rafael I asked her here so that we could have some information about a missing girl's case. Instead we now have information on that case and three others." She said.

"Why did you need Adelee?" Rafael asked.

"The case appeared to have Greek mythological ties, and we wanted to know what she could tell us about them." She told him. "However," she looked at me as if to ask if it was ok to tell him. I nodded my head and she kept going. "We found out that all of the three of the four victims all knew Dr. Jones. We think that the killer and the kidnapper are the same person, and all of the cases are connected. We think that she might be in danger." She told him. He looked over at me.

"What happened?" He asked.

"We figured out that whoever is doing this is someone that I know, because they have been sending me letters with the myths in them. He then kills them and recreates that myth." I took a deep breath. I could feel my eyes "Everyone with the exception of the current girl missing is someone that I have known." I said all of this looking down at my hands. I looked up at Rafael. I saw his face turn a little red. _Well, shit._ He took a deep breath.

"Adelee, why didn't you tell me that someone was sending you those? I could have helped you. Are you alright?" So the anger was for my safety.

"I get weird things from my students sometimes. I just thought this was something like that. I never thought that they would be anything like this." I said with tears in my eyes. _I am acting like a sad child. I must look pathetic to everyone._

"My darling, its alright. I am just worried about you. Do you need somewhere to stay?" He asked me. Then he looked at the Sargent and asked her. "Does she need to stay somewhere else?"

The Sargent smiled and nodded. "She said she was staying with her grandmother."

"Ok. Liv, I need to talk to you about the case. Adelee would you mind to wait outside while I talk to Olivia." Rafael said. Sargent Benson nodded, "come with me Adelee." _They're going to talk about this mess and me._ Rafael kissed my cheek and helped me up. I walked out with her and she called out for Carisi. I walked over to him with her. She motioned for me to sit at his desk. "Carisi keep her company." She then walked back to her. This whole situation got a lot more tense whenever Rafael showed up.

"Dr. Jones, we already met, but you can call me Sonny if you want." He offered.

I smiled and said, "well if I can call you Sonny you might as well call be Adelee."

"So you and Barba." He said.

"Yeah." I told him smiling. He made me feel a little bit better with this. He was trying to make this situation not so terrible for me. "Our grandmothers are best friends and they took it upon themselves to get us together. My _nonna_ tricked me into coming over, and then proceeded to tell him that I had birthing hips. She thinks that's very important in relationships." I told him smiling.

"You're Italian. That seems to be important to Italian grandmothers." He told me.

"I am half Italian. I know, but she spent every summer trying to fatten me up, it becomes annoying after awhile." I said smiling. He looked at me confused and I smiled and said "what? We like food." We both laughed. I liked him. "How did you know I am Italian?" I asked him.

"You called your grandmother the Italian term for grandmother. You also look Italian." He told me. "In all seriousness, how are you dealing with everything?" He asked sobering up.

"I am dealing. I just found out that some psycho Greek myth killer is targeting people I know. I don't even know if he's targeting me. I am freaking out a little. I don't know if he's going to come after me or not."

"We'll catch him." Was all he said before Rafael came out of Sargent Benson's office.

"Adelee you ready to go?" He asked me staring down Carisi. _He doesn't like Carisi? I think he's nice._ I got a little evil smile on my face, _this will make me feel better._

"Of course, _Polpetto._ " I told him. Carisi started to laugh beside me, and I turned and smiled at him. Rafael's face squinted up. "Let's go." I got out of the chair and walked toward Rafael. We walked toward the elevator and we climbed in it, and after the doors shut he looked over at me.

"You and Carisi seemed close." He said. _Is he jealous?_

"Yeah, we are planning on having a torrent love affair." I joked.

"Not funny." He said. Contrary to his statement he smiled a little.

"He's nice and he made me feel comfortable. Rafi," I took a breath. "I am trying not to flip out. Someone is targeting me." He reached over and grabbed my hand that wasn't holding my cane. He opened his mouth to say something but the doors opened with a ding indicating that this was our stop. He pulled my hand and we walked out hand in hand to the entrance.

"Let me drive you home so you can pack some bags." I nodded my head, "then I'll take you to my place." _Uh._

"I need to go to my grandmother's home Rafi." I told him.

"Addy, I think that it will be safer if you stay at my place," I was about to interrupt but he stopped me, "here me out." I nodded, "your grandmother lives on the fifth floor of a walk up apartment and its not anywhere near your work. I have an elevator, its closer to your work, I live in a secure building where no one can get in unless they are on a list, and I would get to see you more." _Damn, he had a point. Nonna lives in a building without an elevator and he knows it's hard for me to get up and down those stairs. The security was something that would allow me to feel safer. Close to work is good to. I also would like to see him._

"You only have one bed in your apartment." I told him.

"The couch in my office turns into a bed." He retorted.

"You just want me in your bed." I joked.

"Guilty."

"The ADA just pled guilty, I need to record this." I joked.

"Addy, in all seriousness. I want you to be safe and I feel like you might not be at your grandmother's. She's in her eighties Addy. If someone broke in what would she do? She might get hurt and I worry about you. If you don't want to stay with me because I am there I'll go stay with my grandmother and you stay at my apartment." He put his hands on either side of my face and leaned in and kissed me. It wasn't a passionate kiss. It was the kind that let you know that you were cared for and safe. It was a gentle brush of lips.

"Ok. You win. You don't have to stay with your grandmother." I told him after he had pulled away.

"Good." He smiled. He walked me to his black Jaguar. He then opened my door and helped me in. I set my cane in between my legs. I took a deep breath and laid my head on the back of the seat. _I can't believe this is happening._

* * *

"Are you sure you need these many books?" He asked from the living room.

"Yes, Rafi. I teach classes and part of that is being informed." I said rolling my eyes.

"Do you need this much stuff?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.

"You told me to pack so I wouldn't have to come back for a while." I told him.

"But you have four bags." He said. _In my defense, I really like clothes and they sort of accumulated over the years._

"You have an entire wall in your closet devoted to your ties." That shut him up. "In fact your closet is bigger then my bedroom." I smiled. _Rub salt in the wound, Addy._

"Ok I get it, I'll stop talking. I do have a question though."

"What is it?" I said as I was putting the last of my makeup in my bag I put it in my purse and walked out of my bathroom into my bedroom where he was sitting on my bed.

"What did you call me at the prescient?" I looked at him confused. "When you and Carisi were laughing together and planning your love affair."

"Oh," I said smiling. "I called you 'meatball.'" I said causally walking to the other side of room.


End file.
